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  4. June 2015
  5. Revisiting Samuelson's Foundations of Economic Analysis

Journal of Economic Literature

ISSN 0022-0515 (Print) | ISSN 2328-8175 (Online)

Revisiting Samuelson's Foundations of Economic Analysis

  • Roger E. Backhouse
Journal of Economic Literature
vol. 53, no. 2, June 2015
(pp. 326–50)
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Abstract

Paul Samuelson's Foundations of Economic Analysis played a major role in defining how economic theory was undertaken for many years after the Second World War. This paper fills out Samuelson's account of the book's origins and corrects some details, making clear his debt to E. B. Wilson and establishes that turning the thesis into a book was a long process. The contents of the book and its reception are then reviewed. (JEL A22, B20, B31)

Citation

Backhouse, Roger E. 2015. "Revisiting Samuelson's Foundations of Economic Analysis." Journal of Economic Literature, 53 (2): 326–50. DOI: 10.1257/jel.53.2.326

Additional Materials

JEL Classification

  • A22 Economic Education and Teaching of Economics: Undergraduate
  • B20 History of Economic Thought since 1925: General
  • B31 History of Economic Thought: Individuals